The Only 24/7 Diners Left In Upstate New York

Diners that are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week are highly underrated.

There are so many great locally-owned mom and pop diners here in New York State, but the majority of them have some sort of closing time, whether it be 4pm or 4am. But there’s something special about knowing you have a place nearby where you can grab some grub anytime you want it, day or night.

Inside a 24-hour diner, you could find all types of people in all walks of life, such as:

First responders & hospital workers getting off of a double shift
Truck drivers taking a much needed break
Tipsy 20-something friends recapping a long night out at the bars
Retail employees grabbing their first meal of the day before they open up shop
Old friends meeting up for their regular cup of coffee

And so on. You never know who you’ll encounter at a diner open 24/7, but you know they probably have an interesting reason as to why they’re there in the middle of the night.

Another great part about chowing down at your local 24/7 diner is the fact that they serve literally anything you could want at any time. If you’re a night owl, you can grab a hearty pasta dish or a fish fry for dinner in the middle of the night. An early riser could grab eggs and toast or pancakes for breakfast at 2am. And if you’re craving something sweet in the middle of the night (or your significant other is), you can run to your local diner and pick up a delicious slice of cake from their drool-worthy bakery display up front.

So if 24-hour diners are so great, where did they all go?

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Why Are There Hardly Any 24/7 Diners Left In New York State?

We’re sure the residual effects of the Covid-19 shutdown, along with the inflation of food prices in recent years, are why 24-hour diners are now few and far between in Upstate New York.

In fact, in our research we could only find a handful that are still open for business.

It should be said that yes, there are plenty of chain restaurants in New York that are open 24 hours a day. For example, neither Syracuse nor Utica have a technical “diner” that’s open for 24 hours. However, Syracuse has a few Denny’s locations that are open all day, and Utica has two McDonald’s locations where you can grab food at any time.

For this list, we’ve chosen to focus on locally-owned Upstate New York spots, to show some love to the small businesses we’re so fond of here. We've also decided to leave out the New York City area, where we know there are lots of spots that are open all day and night long (although, not nearly as many as there were before the pandemic).

These Are The Only 24-Hour Diners In Upstate New York

We’re really hoping we’re wrong, and that many more exist we just didn’t come across. If we forgot any of your local favorites from your Upstate New York town, please let us know so we can add it!

That being said, here are the troopers; the midnight warriors; the last remaining locally-owned 24-hour diners in Upstate New York.